Post-WW II Decline of the American City: Racial Tensions and Suburbanization

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Propadanje američkog grada poslije Drugog svjetskog rata: rasne tenzije i suburbanizacija
• Author: Danijel Pleša
• Mentor: Jelena Šesnić (mentor)
• Mentor: Jana Vukić (mentor)
• Committee member: Sven Cvek (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Jana Vukić (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Jelena Šesnić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Granter: University of Zagreb; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Sociology); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2019-09-19, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Sociology; Specific Sociologies

Abstract

This thesis examines the period after World War II in the United States with a specific reference to the American city and the suburbia, and their relationship in the context of urban problems in 1950s and 1960s America. The problems concerning the housing crisis, racial segregation, structural and technological changes to the visage of the traditional city all converge in a question of what caused such a major shift in the urban fabric of America and how does it relate to today’s metropolis. Major demographic shifts at the end of World War II indicated great changes to American cities as a wave of African Americans moved into the cities and middle-class white Americans settled at the outskirts of cities in suburbia. Backed by federal legislation which sponsored highway building and cheap housing outside urban centers, cities rapidly lost their middle class and with it, their tax revenue. At the center of it all is the decline of the American city. The main argument is that the relevant government institutions, with their discriminatory and racist practices and legislative acts, amidst tumultuous times, managed to completely change the urban landscape in America. These changes are still influencing the modern American city and will be for the foreseeable future. This historical overview analyses legislative acts concerning housing, highway building and racial segregation from the1950s and 1960s and correlates them to the decay of the American city as well as the rapid evolution in technology and mobility via automobiles which also aided in the process of city depopulation. The analysis of these findings shows that the proliferation of the automobile, building of the interstate highway and cheap housing depopulate cities which was offset only by African Americans settling inner cities. Segregation and white flight accounted for a portion of that depopulation. The implications of these processes are: racial issues remain unanswered to this day; the American city still feels the consequences and faces similar issues from 70 years ago; new issues emerge in the new Information Age global economy. The American city needs an urbanistic guideline, a new modern way of reworking inner cities and its outer rim in the bid to stop the uncontrolled urban sprawl and to improve the mobility within it whilst being environmentally positive. How the American city will adapt to these new challenges while taking care of a backlog of issues from the past will define its role and importance in the American everyday life.

• Keywords: suburbanization; inner city; segregation; institutional racism; U.S. federal government
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:314942
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Literature and Culture; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Study programme: Title: Sociology (double major); specializations in: Research, Teaching; Course: Research; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra sociologije (magistar/magistra sociologije)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2019-10-02 16:23:10